Autographic register



Oct. 10, 1933. R. J. COPELAND AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER 4 Sheets- Sheet 1 Filed May 7, 1932 Oct. 10, 1933 R. J. COPELAND AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 'May 7, 19-32 Cope/and.

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 7, 1932 I I I I 1 l I l I 1 b I l 1 In Men for. F0 er/JCo ae/and.

Oct. 10, 1933. R J COPELAND 1,929,483

AUTOGRAPHIG REGI STER Filed May 7. 1.9.32 4 Sheets-Sheet A 1 F6: 10 g -vv.

Patented Oct. 10, 1933 umrsc sraras rarer OFFICE The principal objects of this invention are to greatly enhance the scope oi use of the autographic register, providing a device which will permit the use of the fan-fold triple sheet of paper, providing two duplicate copies of the original which may be withdrawn from thedevice attached together or separated or attached to or separated from the original as the user may desire. v.

A further object is to provide a structure which will be very easily manipulated and which pro-' vides for the storage of an ample supply of invoice paper and which may also accommodate the record duplicate in a sealed compartment.

The principal features of the invention consist in the novel construction and arrangement of parts whereby the continuous fan-fold sheet is drawn between parallelly arranged guide members supported from the sides of the register and which may or may not be adapted to sever the folded longitudinal edges of the fan-fold sheet, said transverse members being constructed to support carbon sheets between the longitudinally folded members of the fan-fold sheet.

A further important feature consists in the novel construction and arrangement of the means for gripping and withdrawing the sheets after they have been written upon and also the novel arrangement of the means for severing the sheets withdrawn.

A still further feature of importance consists in the novel arrangement of a closed cabinet at one end of the register into which the office copy of the bill is fed concurrent with the withdrawal of the sheet.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved form of autographic register.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal mid-sectional view through the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional View showing a modified form of means for gripping the sheets at the bottom end.

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective detail showing the separating and carbon-holding members arranged at the head end of the register.

Figure 5 is a plan view of each of the three successive separator members for dividing the several sheets. I

Figure 6 is a further enlarged sectional view taken'transversely of the separating members i1- lustrated in Figures 4 and 5.

Figure '7 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to Figure 2, showing the arrangement of a storage receptacle for the carbon copy. taken from the bottom of the fan-fold sheet.

Figure 8 is a plan and part sectional detail view of the roller mechanism fordirecting the carbon sheet into the storage receptacle.

Figure 9 is a plan view of the box illustrated in Figure 1, showing the cover member thrown back and the sheet-withdrawing member moved to its outward position.

Figure 10 is a plan view of a length of the fan-fold"sheet used with the present device shownspread flat and illustrating the manner in which the sheets are perforated for separation. I

Figure 11 is a. perspective detail showing a pile of the fan-fold sheets as prepared for use in the register.

In the operation of autographic registers it has been proposedto use "what is commonly known as a-fan-fold sheet, that is a sheet which is folded back and'forth several times in its width. The use of such a sheet has not been found satisfactory,-as there are a number of features which. render its use in ordinary office practice uncertain and difficult.

The present invention purports to overcome these difficulties and toenable the use of a fan-fold in a simple and economical manner.

In the device here shown the casing 1 of the autographic recorder is of a rectangular form, having the side walls 2 sloping upwardly toward the back which has an opening 3 through which the folded paper sheet 4 is inserted.

An opening 5 is arranged in the top of the casing at the back end'and across this opening is arranged a roller 6 and a guide bar '7, around which the endless length of folded paper is arranged to pass.

An open frame cover 8 is secured by the hinges 9 to the back end of the casing adjacent to the opening 5 and this frame has a pair of side bars 10 which extend inwardly over the side edges of the record sheet which is drawn over the top plate 11.

A cross bar 12 connects the ends of the side bars 10 and this is preferably in the form of a wire flattened on one side to fit snugly .down to the paper sheet and it is formed with an offset central portion 13, the purpose of which will be later explained.

Adjacent to the opening 5 and extending from side to side of the top are a plurality of thin transverse plates. The lower one of these 14, located as illustrated in Figure 4 and shown in plan in the upper portion of Figure 5, is

spaced at one end by a plate from one side of the top plate 11 and the plate 14 extends transversely across the top of the register and is provided with a slot 16 which extends almost the entire length of the plate.

The strip of fan-folded paper which is brought over the roller 6 lies along the top plate 11 with the plate 14 extending into the opening between the lower and second section from one side, that is to say, the two lower sections of the fan-fold paper have their open side arranged on the side from which the plate 14 projects, consequently the plate extends in between the sheets and holds a carbon sheet 17 disposed between said sheets by having the end thereof threaded through the slot 16 therein.

The plate 14 is held rigidly in place by a pair of threaded studs 18, projecting, upwardly from the one side of the top plate 11.

A similar pair of studs '19 are arranged transversely opposite the studs 18 and a spacing plate 20 is placed thereover. and a plate 21 similar to the plate 14 is arranged to extend parallelly over the plate 14 and is spaced a short distance thereabove by the plates 22 fastened to the underside thereof at each,,end'.

The plate 21 is provided with a longitudinal slot 23 to receive the edge of a carbon sheet 24.

The edge of the plate 21 adjacent to the roller 6 is bevelled atone end, forming a cutting edge 25 which intersects the fold of the top and intermediate sheet of the fan-fold paper strip and at the opposite end the plate is cut away at 26 to clear the edge of the paper.

A third plate 27 is shown in Figure 5 which is the reverse of the plate 21, having a cutting edge 28 at the opposite end to be used if a four-' fold fan sheet is desired, or this may be placed at the bottom-inlplace of the plate 14 if it is desired to sever'both longitudinal edges of the three-page .fan-fold sheet.

The edges of these plates extending toward the roller 6 are preferably curved slightly upward, as illustrated in Figure 6 and each of them is preferably formed with a broad V-shaped notch 29, the purpose of which will be further described.

It will be noted on reference to Figures 4 and 5 that the plates 14, 21 and 27 are formed of two spaced longitudinal pieces connected together by short strips at the end. These short strips form the necessary spacers to space the longitudinal plates a suflicient distance from each other to permit the free passage of the paper sheet which it is desired to pass therethrough.

These paper sheets are particularly illustrated in Figure 10, which shows a three page sheet on a reduced scale and spread out fiat.

It will be noted on reference to this drawing that the three longitudinal strips are separated by lines of perforations 30 and 31 and these perforations are preferably alternately long and short, so that as they come in contact with the bevel cutting edges of the spacing plate they will be quite easily severed.

The longitudinal strip is divided transversely to separate the pages by perforated lines 32 and a long perforation or slit 33 is arranged mid-way Q 1 of the width of each sheet and it is because of this long perforation that the V-notch 29 is formed in the lead-in edges of the spacing plates.

In the travel of the sheet, the edges of the slits 33 are liable to separate and bulge and on coming in contact with the convergent edges of the V-notch 29 the bulge is smoothed down to pass easily under the plate without catching.

It will be noted that at the point of intersection of the longitudinal perforated lines 30 and 31 with the transverse lines of perforations 32, there are large corner perforations 34. These are formed in a very simple manner in the trimming of the sheets in their folded pad form as illustrated in Figure 11. The longitudinal sheets are folded back and forth along the page perforation 32 and when the pad is of the desired thickness, the corners are trimmed by a rounding tool. This cuts away the paper to form the perforations 34 and when the sheet in its fan-fold shape moves through the machine, each transverse perforation has a V-shaped opening 34' at each side, which ensures the sheet being torn at the proper point forv severance.

A pair of channel guides 35 are arranged one at each side of the casing 1 and a plate 36 resting on top of. the casing is formed with side flanges to engage these guides and a shelf 3'7, shown particularly in Figures 2 and 3, ofangle formation in cross section is secured to the end of the plate outside of the casing.

A rib 38 projects upwardly from the top of the member 37 mid-way between the sides and adjacent to the offset 13 of the cross bar 12 of the hinged top plate 11 and a gripping member 39 is mounted on the member 37 to extend in close to the onset of the cross bar, 12 and to grip the paper of the fan-fold sheet back of the rib 38.

The gripping member 39 illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 9, is in the form of a lever which extends through a slot 40in the member 3'7 and the lower end 41 thereof forms a hand grip by means of which the sliding plate is drawn out from the casing. A double service is thus performed in the one operation. First, upon grasping the handle it tilts upon its pivot in the slot and grips the paper sheet and it then pulls the sliding plate and the paper outwardly together.

The movement of the sliding plate is limited so that when it is pulled out to its maximum lengththe cross perforations 32 of the fan-fold sheets are in alignment with the forward edge of the cross bar 12 and the operator with a lifting movement tears the sheet across the perforated line.

The slit 33 is provided centrally of the width of the sheet so that the tearing action will jump across the offset portion of the cross bar without being falsely torn.

It may be found desirable instead of forming the slit 33 in one length, it may be divided into two short slits 42 separated by a short central perforated portion as illustrated in Figure 9.

The preferred form of gripping member is shown and described as that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 but other forms of grips may be I provided. 'An example of another form is shown in Figure 3, in which the grip member 43 is pivoted on a cross pin 44 and is held to grip the paper by means of a spring 45. With this form of grip the outer end is pressed downwardly when the sliding plate is being returned and the tripping end is thus raised to extend over the bottom of the sheet, which'projectspast the cross bar 12 at the offset portion 13, which allows the gripper to engage the same. i

The operation of this device is extremely simple. 'A pad of the fan-fold paper such as illustrated in Figure 11, is placed in the casing 1 through the opening 3. The end of-the paper is then passed around the guide bar '7 and-roller form an open frame. the end of the fixed top of the casing l to permit 6 with the hinged cover plate thrown back. The foldededges of the sheet are severed for the length of one page simply by tearing or by the use of a paper knife and the first of the cross plates 14 is then laid'a'cross thelower sheet, a sheet of carbon paper being first secured therein by having the end inserted through the slot 16. The second sheet of the fan-fold strip is then laid over the plate 14 and carbon sheet and the second spacer plate 21 also having a carbon sheet inserted therein is then placed over the second sheet and the last of the cross plates is then placed over the last sheet of the-fan-fold strip.

This last plate 27 is merely a holding plate to hold the upper sheet of the fan-fold strip in position.

' The fan-fold sheet is drawn down over the top plate 11 until the end edge overlaps the gripping rib 38. The cover plate is then swung down and the cross bar holds the sheet in position. The sheet is then ready to be written on and when an order has been completed, the operator grasps the handle 41 of the grip lever ES'and the gripping end engages the sheet over the rib 38. By pulling on the handle the plate 36 is drawn out, pulling with it the pages that have been written upon and as these are pulled out the fan-fold sheet is drawn from the'pack within the casing and passing over the roller the several portions follow between the spacer plates and where th spacer plates are arranged with the cutting edges to cut the longitudinal perforated edges, the knife blade portions in their bevelled position slit the short lengths of paper between the long perforation quite readily. The carbon sheets which are threaded through the slots in the spacer plates remain in the same position, the sheets sliding freely above and below the same. I

A construction oi autographic register such as described is extremely simple, it is easily 0perated and practically fool-proof.

It will be seen that the spacer plates may be arranged so that the several strips of the fanfold sheet will be severed longitudinally, or either one or other of the longitudinal folds may be severed as desired.

When the plates are arranged in their relative position to accomplish the desired result for longitudinal slitting, no further change is required, even when resetting to place a new pad and when it is desired to place a new pad it is not necessary to either loosen or remove the spacer plates, as the ends of the fan-fold strip may be fed in from the roller side if desired.

In some forms of business it is desirable that he oiiice copy of the orders be retained so that the clerk writing the order may not have access thereto and in order to provide for such use I have devised an additional cabinet receptacle 46 as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. This may be attached to the casing 1 by being secured with bolts 4? to the discharge end of the casing.

The sloping top 48 of the cabinet 46 is arranged at a lower level than the sloping top of the casing l to permit the sliding cross bar 37 to move thereover. The plate 36 in this instance is removed and the side guides and cross bar 3'7 A slot 49 is provided in the bottom sheet of paper to pass downwardly.

A slot 50 is formed in the top of the cabinet i6 close to the end secured to the casing and a roller 51 mounted in suitable journals extends across this slot.

It is preferred to provide a spur gear 52 at one or both ends oi'the roller 51, the teeth of which are engaged by a spur pinion 53 mounted on a second roller 54. The surfacesof these rollers engage and the paper sheet of the carbon copy,

being returned, the pawls slip over the ratchet.

With this arrangement of rollers in the storage cabinet the bottom sheet bearing the record copy is fed through the slot 49 and drawn into the cabinet by the operating roller as the frame carrying the first and second copies is moved outwardly, thus when the top sheets have been moved out to a position to be severed from the main strip, the office copy has been simultaneously carried into the closed cabinet.

The cabinet is provided with asuitable lock.

The fan-fold sheet is admitted to be the positive means of maintaining an exact register, the one form with the other so that carbon copies-will be produced with the dates, numbers and other-entries in their precise, relative positions on the sheets and this device has been produced for the purpose of utilizing this form of sheet to the best advantage.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An autographic register having a writing top, and a plurality of spacing plates spaced above and extending across said top and adapted to eX-' tend between the sheets of a fan-folded paper strip, said spacing plates being provided at the end with cutting means for serving the longitudinal fold lines of the strip, and said spacing plates having means for holding a carbon sheet.

2. An autographic register having a writing top, and a plurality of plates spaced one above the other and spaced above said writingtopand extending thereacross and adapted to separate the sheets of a fan-folded paper strip, each of said plates having a slot extending thereacross torreceive the end of a carbon sheet.

. 3. An autographic register having a writing top, and a plurality of plates spaced one above the other and spaced above said writing top and. extending thereacross and adapted to separate the sheets of a fan-folded paper strip, each of said plates having a slot extending thereacross to detachably receive the end of a carbon sheet, said plates having cutting means at the end of the slots thereof for intercepting and severing the longitudinal fold edges of the strip as it passes said carbon-holding plates.

4. Inan autographic register, a writing top over which a fan-folded paper strip is adapted to pass, a plurality of interchangeable superposed carbon-holding plates extending transversely of the fan-fold strip between the folded lengths thereof, certain of said plates having sharpened extremities for severing the longitudinal fold lines of the strip, and means for detachably securing said plates in a desired predetermined assembled relation to effect the severing of one or more of the longitudinal fold lines of the fanfold strip.

5. An autographic register having a writing top, a plate rigidly secured at its end and spaced above and extending across the writing top and adapted to extend between the longitudinal sheets of a fan-folded strip of paper, a plate secured at the end and spaced above the aforesaid plate and extending across the writing top and adapted to extend between another pair of sheets of a fan-folded strip of paper, each of said plates having a longitudinal slot to receive and hold the folded end of a carbon sheet, and means for drawing the fan-folded paper sheets lengthwise, said slotted plateshaving means at the ends of the slots thereof for severing the longitudinal foldedges of the strip.

6. An autographic register as claimed in claim 5 in which the means for severing the longitudi" nal fold edges comprises bevel cutting surfaces arranged on said transversely arranged plates to sever the longitudinally folded edges of the fanfold sheet as it is drawn past said spaced transverse plates. i

7. An autographic register having a writing top, a plurality of spacing plates extending across said writing top at one end and spaced therefrom I and spaced from each other and each having a guiding edge to guide a fan-fold paper sheet, said guiding edges having a central V-shaped notch, a transversely perforated fan-fold sheet extending past said guiding member, the transverse perforations havinga long slotted portion in the middle of the sheet, means extending across the sheet forming a severing edge and having an offset central portion, and means for gripping the paper sheets at said offset central portion to draw them outward past said guide plates and severing edge means. r

8. An autographic;register having a writing top 7 with studs arranged adjacent to the sides of the writing top and close to one erid, plates extending across the writing top and having spacing members at the ends and having holes through which said studs extend, said plates being mounted in spacing positions to permitthe treading therebetween of the sheets, of a fan-fold strip of paper, said transverse spaced plates having cutting edges adapted to engage and sever the longitudinal edges of the fan-foldedpaper strip, carbon sheets secured to said transverse plates, means for drawing the fan fold paper strips past said transverse plates and carbon sheets in a direct alignment, and means for severing the sheets transversely.

9. An autographic register, comprising a writing top, transverse plates spaced apart above the writing top at one end thereof and having cutting edges to sever the longitudinal folds of a fan-fold strip of paper as it is advanced over said top, a slidable member telescopically associated with said writing top and extensible to advance the fan-fold strip, a slotted casing arranged at one end of the writing top below said slidable member to receive the bottom sheet of the fan-fold strip, and means'actuated by the sliding extending movement of said slidable member for feeding the bottom sheet into said slotted casing.

10. ,An autographic register having a writing top, spacing members extending across the writing top having means for severing the longitudinal edges of a fan-fold strip of paper, a casing arranged at one end of the writing top having a slot therein, rollers arranged within said casing below the slot adapted to grip the bottom sheet of paper of the severed fan-fold strip, a sliding member adapted to grip and pull the fan-fold sheets past said spacing and severing means, and means operated by said sliding member for operating said rollers. V

11. An autographic register as claimed in claim 10 having friction wheels rotatably mounted on said rollersand engaging said sliding member and rotated thereby, ratchet wheels mounted on said rollers, and ratchet dogs carried by said friction wheels and engaging said ratchet wheels to rotate the rollers.

ROBERT J COPELAND. 

